Big 4 Promotion missed: Did you choose your Manager wisely?

Most Big 4 (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC) professionals have been following one simple rule: work hard, and promotions will follow.
But a months-long academic study conducted inside a Big 4 unit in Paris (by researchers from Cambridge, KEDGE, and ISG) says otherwise.
Big 4 promotions are far more political and deeply influenced by who speaks (fights) for you in the room.

Getting promoted in a Big 4

You wanted to become a Partner at a Big 4 firm.

It had been the dream since the day you joined.

You worked relentlessly, late nights, sometimes billing well over 100% of your time to client accounts. You did everything right.

But when the time finally came, you didn’t make it. Someone else’s name was on the list. Sounds devastating, right?

We found out what actually happens behind the curtains.

How the Promotion process works (on paper)

Officially, the promotion process in the Big 4 follows three simple steps.

1. Supervisor assessment

Your manager or senior manager reviews your self-assessment and gives you your first internal rating.

They judge you on three things:

How strong are your technical skills
How well you worked with the team
How you handled clients (this one matters more than people admit)

2. Second-level reviewer

Next up, your business unit head or a senior reviewer steps in.

They scoop up all your evaluations from the year, add their own review (yes, this matters), and package your performance into a neat little summary that goes to the committee.

3. The final level

Then comes the promotion committee (includes Senior Managers, Directors, Partners, and HR), which decides your final grade.

But in reality…

Promotions happen in a room!

The process you imagine: a Partner quietly reading your review is a fantasy. Your fate is decided by a collective deliberation in a closed room.

The committee don’t just read your review that your supervisor presents.

They debate you, question your potential, and compare you.

This is where merit ends, and politics enters the chat.

Big question: Does your manager have your back?

You can have:

Glowing client feedback
Perfect utilisation
Strong ratings

But if your manager doesn’t fight for you, the committee won’t either.

A senior quoted in the study said:

“Some managers fought for their protégés. My supervisor never fought for me…I was never graded badly, but I was never graded well either. It would have been different if I had another mentor.”

Because in that room, someone has to champion you and fight for you!

The Litmus Test:

If your manager can sway the committee, you rise.
If they stay silent, you stall.

Yes, your rating depends on who your manager is

This is the part nobody tells you: Before the committee judges you, they judge the manager who wrote your review.

They ask:

Is this manager respected?
Are they credible?
Do they understand the standards?
Do we trust their judgment?

A senior put it bluntly:

“Someone good but stuck with average managers will be graded C. The same person, with the same performance, but with a manager who carries weight, will be graded B.”

Translation: Work for the right manager, or pay the price.

Business development support

Yes, technical competence, such as your domain expertise, efficiency, and team management, makes up roughly 50–60% of the promotion decision.

Up to the Manager level, execution is the ultimate deciding factor. But as you move up the ladder, a whole set of non-technical factors start to decide your fate.

Can you resolve client issues without the involvement of your Managers, Directors, or Partners?

How many clients have you brought in last year?

How many proposals have you worked on or contributed to?

What has been your revenue impact, including cross-selling and support for additional services?

Wait, did you help a Partner draft LinkedIn posts or thought-leadership content? Yes, that will also count when your manager is representing you in front of the promotion committee.

Partner bandwidth

You are genuinely promotion-ready and have delivered consistently outstanding performance over the years. But somehow you still missed the cut? Here’s why.

See, each Partner has to obey a promotion quota. In simple words, your Partner is allowed to put forward only a limited number of names in a given appraisal cycle. So, don’t feel bad.

Sector performance

If you’re in a fast-growing practice, your chances of getting promoted are simply higher.

Economic uncertainties

On top of everything else, economic slowdowns also play a major role (as is happening in the UK right now). When firms need to cut costs and focus on protecting margins, they are hardly thinking about adding more partners or increasing bonuses.

Even if you are a strong performer, you’ll be told to “wait one more year,” because budgets are tight.

There are still exceptions, though. If you have strong internal backing and partner sponsorship, you might just make it in around two years.

So how can you climb up the ladder?

See, internal politics has always been a feature of rising up the ranks within the Big 4, or any organisation, for that matter.

In a previous interview with The Finance Story, Sriram Iyer, Ex-MD Accenture and Former Senior Manager at Deloitte and Touche, said,

“Some may call it politics, others may call it smart navigation to get to the result. You need to know who’s calling the shots in your organisation.”

Build a strong personal brand

You can be technically excellent, but reaching the top also requires people skills.

You need that skill to build your internal network and win clients. So, start creating a memorable and distinguished personal brand as early as possible!

“I admit that I’m very attentive to punctuality. As far as I’m concerned, if a junior arrives late, I’m sure I will downgrade him in his evaluation, even if he’s otherwise excellent,” says a Manager in the research.

“The most important thing is client relations in auditing. So, you see, for me, a young person who is respectful, polite, I’m sure I’ll give him a good mark to encourage him, even if he’s not highly technical,” says one senior in the research.

Protect yourself: Document everything

Say, you are in a situation where you have to make tough or unpopular decisions (for example, saying no to a client request, rejecting a revenue-pushing deal, or enforcing compliance rules).

In these environments, accountability becomes political.

If something goes wrong, you have to protect yourself first, says Sriram.

Document every risky or controversial decision.

Loop in your bosses or stakeholders.

Create a paper trail so no one can rewrite the story later.

Never lose your internal supporters

Do you have a good rapport with your Manager, Directors, and Partners?

If you don’t, then start working on it right now. Because that is also an unwritten “criterion”.

You need people who advocate for you.

If you start losing your champions or internal supporters, you’ll soon become irrelevant or be on your way out.

Taking on extra responsibilities

In a large firm, visibility doesn’t come from doing what’s expected. It comes from going the extra mile.

If you want to aim for the coveted “Partner” title, here’s the secret: You need to act like a Partner long before anyone formally puts your name on a list.

You have to:

Lead client conversations
Run assignments
Own outcomes

Build client trust

The third most important factor is earning your clients’ trust in you and the quality of your work.

Lead a team

Learn how to delegate, coach juniors, and inspire them.

Wrapping up…

As per this study, forget the idea of a purely fair, objective system.

Your career success in the Big 4 or, that matter, anywhere depends on two things:

Your Performance: (Yes, it still matters!)
Your Manager’s Power: You must ensure the manager who is speaking up for you in that room is a person of high standing and respect whose judgment the senior partners and peers will validate without question.

In the world of professional services, success isn’t just about what you know; it’s about who speaks for you and how much influence they have.

FAQs

How can I become a Big 4 Partner?

You need to have deep technical mastery in your domain. That’s a must. You need to be the expert people call when things go south.

But other than that, you need,

Soft Skills: Strong client relationship building and people leadership.
Business Development: The ability to bring in new clients and grow existing business is crucial for promotion.
“The Politics”: Navigating internal relationships and gaining support from senior partners is often essential.
Strategic Positioning: Moving into high-demand service lines or sectors helps.